For the first time in a long time I’m content with not creating. That’s not to say I won’t still be making things. I most certainly will. But I’m allowing myself to relax, to recharge, to actually enjoy my photography day job and to not beat myself up when I’m not creating personally.
We’ll see if this lasts, but I’ve been working toward it for a long time. Maybe it’s pain, fatigue, distraction or the state of the world that has forced me to slow down. But no matter what it is or isn’t, I’m finally learning to just be and there’s power in that.
I like making series of works. I make images I am most proud of when I work deliberately, slowly and in group themes. This kind of working doesn’t bode well to constant posting online.
So in line with the above, I took a break from instagram and in just a few days, pushed myself to make more, but also relax more. That creation however was largely building and painting in anticipation of photo making which doesn’t always leave much to share on instagram.
In this break I missed scrolling through my feed though, and have learned even more so how little I like facebook and other social media platforms. I think as I return to instagram I’ll try to pressure myself less to always have new things to post and instead enjoy it as a leisure activity. We’ll see if that way of thinking lasts.
Moral of the story – don’t fall into the lie that you always need to be productive. The earth will keep turning while you take time for yourself.
I agree with everything you said. the pressure we put on ourselves can be the most unyielding. thanks for writing this – it was a great reminder that i’m not the only person who feels like that.
Thank you. We all need to be reminded of this. It’s so important.
I do think it’s good to slow down some, but so hard to put into practice. That last sentence — so true.
It is very difficult, but worth pursuing.